


The Twelve Days of Christmas

by allfairytales



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Holidays, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-12
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-04 11:03:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 12,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1080270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allfairytales/pseuds/allfairytales
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>River and the Doctor spend their Christmases together. A series of happy little vignettes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Christmas had never been anything extraordinarily special for River Song; bright lights, warm houses, and a spectacular tree were things that belonged to others, not to her. Therefore she had decided to stay dorm room at the Luna University for the holiday.

“Seriously, River, you’re more than welcome to join my family for Christmas. I’d hate to think of you spending it all alone.” her roommate, Elsie, said for the fifty-seventh time that day as she slung her rucksack over her shoulder.

“I’m just going to keep researching my thesis. I’ll probably make amazing headway with no distractions.”

Elsie cast her an unsure look, “Well, if you change your mind, please come over. No one should be alone on Christmas.”

River sighed inwardl -nice as Elsie was, she’d be glad to see the back of her for a while. She couldn't wait for her to hurry up and leave. “Thank you, I will.. Promise.”

“Alright. I’ll see you after the holidays, then. Oh... here,” she handed River a small parcel, “happy Christmas, River.”

“Thank you. Happy Christmas, Elsie.”

 _Alone at last._ Alone, again... River glanced down at the small gift wrapped in hot pink paper. She smirked -Elsie was one of the girliest girls she had ever met. Whenever River glanced over at Elsie’s side of the room, she felt a faint pounding behind here eyes at the hot pink explosion. She carefully peeled back the paper, and a small hand painted box, blue as the journal she kept on her night stand, and speckled with golden stars and swirling galaxies, fell into her palm. River opened the box and pulled out a note.

‘ _You often talk in your sleep about going to see the universe, so I thought you’d like a bit of it for Christmas! -Elsie_ ’

Rivers smiled and leaned over to place the box on a corner of her desk. She then crossed to the window and looked up at the Earth rise, thinking of the billions of people down there at this moment, bustling about their lives -many celebrating the Christmas holiday with their families. She thought of her parents and wondered how they spent their Christmases without the Doctor. And how did _he_ spend Christmas? With his companions? Alone?

A knock on the door brought her back from her daydreaming. She turned and saw Elsie’s keys lying on her nightstand. River picked them up and went to the door.

“Forget something?” Her eyebrows flew up in surprise, “Doctor?”

“Hello River!” He smiled at her warmly and looked at the keys in her hand, “Are those for me?” he pointed to the pink stuffed puppy keychain, “I love the little doggie!”

“Oh, these... no there are my roommate’s. She just left to go home for the holidays.”

“I hope she doesn’t need any of those to get into her house. That’d put a damper on Christmas, being locked out of your home.” He smiled again, “How are you, River? You look lovely.”

She glanced down at her jodhpurs and long jumper, “Thanks, I've been alright. Do you want to come in?”

“Actually, I was wondering if you’d like to go out for a bit? If you don’t have plans, that is.”

“Out where?”

“Wherever you like.”

“Someplace... Christmasy?”

“I can do that! Come along!” He held out his hand to her, and pulled her along with him.

xoxo

“Cocoa?” He passed her a cup, and they sat down in the snow, which magnificently wasn’t wet or cold to the touch. “And don’t forget these.” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of marshmallows, and dropped them into her cocoa.

“Do you just carry those around with you?”

“What’s wrong with having marshmallows on your person? You never know when you’ll need them. Rule 173.”

She smirked and took a sip of her drink, “You have an awful lot of rules, don’t you?”

“You’ll learn them, don’t worry.”

A silence fell between them, and River watched as the snowflakes fell around them -literally around them! She couldn’t figure out how they were falling everywhere but on the pair of them.

She turned back to the Doctor after a bit, and found him gazing at her.

“What’s on your Christmas list this year, River?”

Taken aback slightly she stammered out, “Er, I -well I don’t have one.”

“You don’t?! Why not? Christmas lists are brilliant!”

She let out a hollow laugh, “I don’t have one, because I’ve got no one to give it to.”

“You’ve got your parents. And you have me.” he wrapped an arm round her waist. “Want to see mine?” he produced it from his trouser pocket and handed it to her.

“Are your trouser pockets like your TARDIS? Bigger on the inside?”

“Maybe.” He said as she looked over the list.

“What could you possibly do with a paper doll set? Or a portable hammock chair? And owl onesie?”

He snatched the list back. “These things don’t have to be practical, River, but I could think of loads of things to do with an owl onesie!” he stuffed the list back into his pocket. “So what would be on yours?”

She stretched her legs out, and watched the snowflakes change their route.. “I don’t really know. Maybe spending Christmas making new memories? Happy memories.”

The Doctor picked up her hand and brought it to his lips, “I think I can do that for you.” He reached into his pocket yet again -seriously, how deep were those things?- and pulled out a small wrapped parcel. “Happy Christmas.” She took the present and opened it, pulled out a small silver key. “It’s for the TARDIS. I’d like you to have it so you can let yourself in anytime you want. I mean, I’m sure the old girl would let you in without a key, seeing as you're 'her child', but I wanted you to have one.”

“Thank you, Sweetie.” She closed her hand around it. “A key to all of time and space? My, how will you ever top this gift?”

“I’ll find a way, River Song, never fear.” He slipped his hand over hers, and smiled when she turned hers over to thread her fingers though his.

“Happy Christmas, Sweetie.”

“Happy Christmas, River.”


	2. Chapter Two

They whipped around a corner, hand in hand and leaned against the brick wall; he panting and pushing hair away from his sweaty forehead, she clutching a stitch in her side.

“Did we lose them?" she gasped as she fought to catch her breath.

The Doctor slowly peeked around the corner of the building, and jumped back suddenly as a shot off a blaster narrowly missed his face. “Aah! Nearly singed my eyebrows off!” He grabbed her hand and they tore off running again.

“Did you have them to begin with?” River fired a shot over her shoulder at the advancing Sontaran.

“That’s so rude - _what?!_ Where did you get that? How do you have a gun?” he demanded as they ducked into a small alley.

“I bought it today, a Christmas present to myself.” she said as she stroked the barrel, “It matches my coat!” She flashed him a flirty smile as she posed with it.

“ _That_ is what you consider a Christmas present? A gun?”

“You love it really, Sweetie-” she pushed him aside suddenly and took another shot. River and the Doctor ran down the rest of the narrow alley and emerged onto a deserted street full of shops.

“Oh, how lovely! Look at the Christmas lights!” the Doctor said, momentarily distracted.

“Yeah, not now.” She shot her blaster again, and dodged shot from the Sontaran that ended up smashing a shop window behind her. River laughed loudly.

“Nice shot! I’d say you shoot like a girl but,” she shot and hit a heavy overhanging sign, causing it to fall and knock out their attacker, “that just isn't true.”

“River, you really have to stop egging on Sontarans.”

“I don’t.” She said innocently.

“You do! All the time!”

She waved a hand at him dismissively, and holstered her gun, shivering suddenly in the chilly night air.

“Here.” The Doctor slipped off his coat, and wrapped it around her shoulders, then took her hand in his and pulled her along the fairy light lit street. “Bit of a crazy start to Christmas Eve, eh, running for our lives?”

“I think you and I do a lot of running, don’t we?”

He smiled and mimed locking his lips and throwing away the key. "When did you get that gun, seriously? I was with you the whole time we were in the marketplace.”

“A woman can shop stealthily, and rather fast when she knows exactly what she is looking for. I got something for you, too.” She reached into the leather pouch above her holster, and pulled out a toy gun.

“Oh, come on! I don’t want one, even if it is fake!” He turned the package over in his hand, and his face lit up, “Wait, this shoots water, snowballs, _and_ marshmallows?”

“So you _do_ want it?”

He didn't answer, but pressed a kiss to her hair and opened the package, before fishing through the pocket of his jacket still currently round River’s shoulders. He pulled out a handful of marshmallows, “Better start wearing your hair up -don’t want these to be lost in there forever.” he said and steered her toward the TARDIS. “Think fast!” He shot a marshmallow at her, and quicker than he could have possibly imagined, she whipped out her blaster and shot the flying sweet out of the air. It landed in a hot sugary heap on the ground. He gaped down at the mess, then up at her, “I... really shouldn’t like that as much as I do.” He ‘holstered’ the toy gun in his trouser pocket. “Okay, we’ll call this round a draw, but stay on your toes. I’ll get you with this sooner or later.”

“Oh, Sweetie, don’t count on it.” she cooed as she opened the door of the TARDIS. “I’ll give you a fifteen second head start -you have to do better than that.” she gestured to the marshmallow mess now frozen to the ground.

“I’ll bring it.” He kissed her on the lips and pushed past her into the console room.

“Ugh, don’t say that!” she sighed.

“It’s Christmas, let me have some joy, River!”

“Alright, less talking, more taking advantage of your head start.”

“Fifteen seconds really isn’t that much.” he called over his shoulder as he moved to stand behind the console.”

“Fine, have thirty... because it’s Christmas.”

“How about you just let me shoot you with a marshmallow because it’s Christmas?”

She rolled her eyes and closed the door behind her, “Is that your Christmas wish?”

“Yes.” he said and leaned his weight forward onto his elbows on the console, taking aim at her. “I have the perfect shot.”

“Take it, then.”

He did and she watched the marshmallow fly at least a foot to her left, letting out a laugh, “Nice try.” she sauntered over to him, and laid his jacket over the railing. “I love that you really don’t know how to use any kind of gun.” She placed her hand over his and stroked her thumb lightly over the back of his hand.

“I love you.” Her eyebrows raised in surprise, not expecting him to say those words aloud to her ever, let alone after he’d attempted to shoot her with a marshmallow gun on Christmas Eve.

She smiled, “And I you.”


	3. Chapter Three

_Merry Christmas to me_ she thought grumpily as she looked out the window of her cell at the pouring rain. Her first Christmas in prison; she knew she shouldn’t be mopey, after all, Christmas was more often than not just another day for her. She tried not to let the confining walls of Stormcage, or the dreary weather outside dampen her spirits. 

She flicked the sad shrub in a pot that had been a ‘craft project’ for the inmates. River hadn’t wanted to participate, so the guard had brought her one sans decoration. The pathetic little thing made Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree look lush and lively. She decided to entertain herself for a bit by creating tiny ornaments and a topper out of paper, and putting them on the tiny ‘tree’.

When that got old, she decided to reorganize her closet. Then she scribbled in her diary for a bit, had a good laugh at the guard who passed carrying a big bowl of Christmas pudding on his way to the guard’s dining room, slipped on a bit of wet tile, and decorated the floor, walls and a good majority of the ceiling in the dessert.

River finally fell asleep that night cold and hungry -their turkey looked sadder than the food they served in school lunch rooms. She was curled around herself, facing the wall, miraculously sleeping through all of the guards nightly checks for the very first time.

In the wee hours -or it must’ve been, because her wing was absolutely silent- she finally felt a break from the cold. She looked over her shoulder, blinking sleep out of her eyes, and giving the Doctor a tired smile.

“Hello wife.” he said as he bent forward to kiss her gently.

“Ohh, get in here, I’m freezing.” She scooted over, and he quickly discarded his boots and jacket, then climbed in, wrapping her in his arms.

“Aah, your toes are so cold, River.” he gasped as she pressed them against his leg.

“It’s like they’ve turned on the air in here, or something.” she nuzzled against his neck and felt her shivering convulsions lessen as warmth began to spread through her.

The Doctor stroked her back, “Good thing I got you this blanket, eh?”

“It’s wonderful, thank you so much.” she pressed a kiss to his jaw. “What have you been up to?”

“Just helped Santa deliver some of his presents. Then I went to help out at a soup kitchen in 20th century New York City.”

“Helped Santa?” she snorted.

“Yeah. Poor bloke could use an extra hand; he has an incredibly tight schedule, you know.”

“Oh, my love, you are ridiculous. There is no Santa, what did you really do?”

“I helped Santa! God, with that attitude you shouldn’t act too surprised if you get coal.” he bopped the tip of her nose with his finger.

“How are my parents? Have you seen them lately?”

“Dropped them off at Space Florida -Amy loves that place even though she always manages to get a massive sunburn, the big ginge! They’re spending a couple of days there, which means I’m companion free. We can have the TARDIS to ourselves.” he squeezed her hip playfully.

“Can we sleep for a bit, first? This blanket really is so cozy, and my bed partner isn’t so bad either.”

“We can do whatever you like. It is Christmas after all.” He pulled the blankets hinger round them, and met River in a long kiss, “Merry Christmas, dear.”

“Merry Christmas, Sweetie.”


	4. Chapter Four

“Ta da! Just as promised, a Space Florida Christmas Holiday for the One River Song!”

“It’s about time, seeing as you’ve brought my mother twice. Thank you for bringing me!” River nudged him playfully as she slipped out of the TARDIS and onto the soft, warm pink sand, and put on her sunglasses. “Doctor, would you mind helping me with some sunblock? I think I’d like to swim first.” she turned back to look at him, and felt her gun hand twitch, “ _What_ are those?”

“My sunglasses!” He grinned, sliding the oversized, shockingly orange eyesores down the bridge of his nose. “Cool, huh?" Each lens was almost the size of his face, "They made me laugh for ages. Oh, and you can watch TV on them! Why didn’t I think of that first?" River hoisted her beach bag higher up her shoulder and turned to walk towards the water without another word, lest she pull a muscle rolling her eyes.

xoxo

The Doctor emerged from the TARDIS a short while later, and found River laying in the sun, still wearing her sundress.

“Where’s your bathing suit?” River opened an eye and groaned; he was wearing hot pink bathing trunks with surfing reindeer.

“Oh, Doctor, why do I let you out?”

“Oh! I suppose these aren’t cool either? What’s your swimsuit look like, then, eh? Bet it’s boring.” He flopped down onto his towel next to hers, kicking up sand, and disheveling the area she’d laid out for him.

“You’re right, Sweetie, my bathing suit is boring.”

“Don’t worry, dear, I’m sure there’s a better one in a shop on the boardwalk.”

“Mhmm,” she agreed, “well, if I’m getting a different one, might as well get one last use out of this.” She sat up and pulled her light blue sundress over her head and tossed it into her bag. “Oh, see; nowhere near as interesting as yours.”

The Doctor propped himself up on an elbow and pulled his overlarge glasses down the bridge of his nose again. He didn’t mean to gawk but _yowza!_ He couldn’t tell if the suit itself was amazing, or if it was River making the gold bikini seem to glow. He felt more than likely, it was the woman in it. _Dear God,_ he knew her was strong and shapely, but good Lord did the woman look sinfully gorgeous.

xoxo

“May I offer you a drink?”

The Doctor looked up from his book (which he’d only been reading so he could sit up and admire River laying next to him in her bikini), and blinked up at a tall, tanned man smiling down at him. He felt River roll over onto her side and prop herself up on her elbow. The man smiled and winked at her, so the Doctor could only imagine that she had smiled at him first.

“Uh, please, yeah. Banana daiquiri?” the Doctor said.

“You got it.” He pulled thin plastic disk out of a sachel bag and flicked his wrist with a flourish, making it pop up to a daiquiri glass. He then took the hold of a hose off his metal backpack, and soon the Doctor’s glass was full of frozen banana daiquiri. 

“Cheers, thanks a lot.”

“No problem.” He got up and rounded their towels to crouch down beside River. “Anything for the lady?”

River looked at him over her shoulder before sitting up and facing him. “Sangria, please.”

“Coming right up.”

He repeated the plastic disk trick, this time producing a big sangria glass. He passed River her drink, and grinned broadly at her. “Thank you very much.”

“Anything for a beautiful lady like you.”

River sipped her drink as the man walked away and turned back to the Doctor. “How’s yours?”

“Could use more banana.” He nodded towards the Drinks Guy, “He was friendly.”

River chose to ignore the slight jealously in his words, “He was. He’s also a robot.”

“He was not.” The Doctor craned his head to look back at the man offering drinks two towels away. “Was he? How could you tell?”

“I’ve dated robots,” she looked at him, “kissed and married others...” she teased, “shot at them, I can just tell.” The Doctor frowned, and pulled out his sonic to point it at the man. As he was searching for a reading, it caused a glitch, and the Drinks Guy overfilled a margarita, causing it to splash onto the sand. “See?”

“Oh, well what do you know?” he grumbled, and sipped his drink.

“I think going to go test the water. The person passing out umbrellas said you don’t get that salty feeling on your skin or hair when you get out. She also said the sand doesn’t stick to you! Isn’t that amazing?”

“What about your drink?”

“The cups float in the water, and can’t be knocked over. They really thought of everything here! No wonder Amy loves it.”

“What about sunblock?”

“The person with the umbrellas helped me when you were in the TARDIS changing into your suit.” she smirked at him, and stood to walk to the water.

Mind conflicted between confused jealousy, and genuine appreciation of her backside, the Doctor finally whipped off his sunglasses and scanned the beach for the offending umbrella man.

xoxo

“There you are, Sweetie. Look at this!” she was stroking the belly of a pink dolphin. “He swam right up to me. Isn’t he handsome?”

“Yeah, he’s great. Here.” he handed her another sangria. “Scram! Away from my wife!” he flapped an arm and shooed the dolphin away, taking a sip from his drink bitterly.

“What’s gotten into you? Did you lose those ridiculous sunglasses?”

“Oi! Firstly, no, I didn’t, they are safe!”

“Pity.”

“OI!” He took another sip of his drink and glanced up at the beach. “I couldn’t find the umbrella guy.” he muttered.

“What?”

“I was looking for the umbrella guy, I didn’t see anyone... I thought _I_ was supposed to be putting sunblock on your shoulders.” He sipped his drink, and flicked at the water bashfully.

River smiled and turned towards the beach. “Do you see that girl with the long brown hair talking to that couple on the striped towels? That’s the one with the umbrellas.”

“Oh, I -well, that’s interesting...”he loudly slurped up the last of his drink. “What do you say we go find our room?” he asked, hoping to change the subject.

River moved towards him and wrapped her arms round his waist. “Were you a bit jealous, my love?”

“No! I wasn’t! Not  _very_ jealous." he sighed, "Can you blame me? You are the most beautiful woman here!” River laughed.

“And all the other people on the beach can’t compare to you and your bright pink swim shorts. I only have eyes for you.” she assured him with a long kiss. “Now, let’s go to our room. I think there are some presents waiting for you there.”

“Really?! Let’s go then!” He grabbed her hand and tugged her along with him through the water.


	5. Chapter Five

“ _Gone shopping! Don’t wait up -River_ ” she’d scrawled on the wall of her cell, and left Stormcage with the Doctor to get her Christmas shopping done.

River and the Doctor strolled through a massive fifteen floor shopping plaza in 32nd century London, hoping to find something stylish for Amy. Perhaps some trousers, the Doctor had suggested, since the woman was always in such short skirts.

“Seriously, River, maybe a nice pair of jeans? I don’t want to say her skirts are impractical, but sometimes we do go places and she complains that it’s cold.”

“It’s just not her style. How would you feel if she gave you a tie for Christmas and expected you to wear it.” River said as she flicked through a rack of sequined jodhpurs. “I think we ought to try a less flashy century, none of this stuff seems like anything she’d wear. I thought the early 2000’s were bad, but it’s really nothing on these.”

“Oh, you know, we should try the makeup section. Look at this sign; it says there’s a nail polish brush that scans any color you point it at, so you can have a new color every day if you wanted.”

“That’s a thought. Any suggestions for Rory?”

“I heard there was a really great book series out this year called something like Doyle Conan’s Fall. There are three in the series, I think, and people will not be able to stop talking about it. Going to be the hit movie in a few years time.”

“Then you’ll have to take him to see the movies, you know.”

“Aw, the movie adaptations were crap! I don’t want to have to sit through them again. They really took too many liberties with the plot -is no book sacred?!”

xoxo

The Doctor groaned as then took the escalator up to yet another floor of merchandise. “How big _is_ this place?” He whined, “Aren’t you done looking, yet? Go get those books for Rory, I'll sit through all those movies in less time than it takes for you to shop.”

“Sweetie, you were the one who suggested going shopping, you can’t blame me for how long it takes -my parents are hard to shop for.”

“Let’s just take them someplace cool, and be done with it.”

“Sending your parents on vacation is a nice thing, if you don’t have a ship that goes anywhere at no cost.”

He let out a huff and leaned against a display of stuffed Reindeer toys, and sent a good majority of them falling to the ground.

River closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning to the Doctor. “Feel like taking a lunch break? Maybe get your picture taken with the man dressed as Santa Clause?”

He looked up from collecting all the reindeer in his arms. “That sounds great. I have to give him my list, anyway!” He plopped the toys haphazardly on the once-organized stack. “I’m so sorry for all of this,” he gestured to the mess, at a passing clerk. “Okay, let’s go.”

xoxo

“Honestly, did you need to pinch Santa’s bum? This would've been a perfectly lovely picture if his eyes weren’t bugging out.” The Doctor shoved the picture under her nose.

“He was awfully handsy for someone who judges whether or not people go on the naughty or nice list.”

The Doctor shot her a look of displeasure and pocketed the picture. “Let’s ride that little train!” He grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the fenced off area.

“Doctor, that’s a ride for children.”

“No, I bet we’ll fit just fine.” He pushed her through the gate and steered her towards the conductors cart. “Look! We get the whole thing to ourselves!” He said and tried to shove her quickly inside the cart.

“Ow! Go easy!” She pushed his hand away, and squished her legs into the seat, groaning as the Doctor climbed in next to her. “God, your elbows are so sharp!”

“Sorry,” he wrapped his arm around her, “cozy once you get used to it though. Let’s take a trip through Santa’s village!” He jostled her as he fumbled through his pockets for his screwdriver, and aimed it at the train which began to move. “Wow, this is really fancy for a kids ride.” he said as the went through a tunnel that opened up to an amazingly intricate and detailed North Pole. 

The Doctor glanced at River as they passed by a beautiful aurora borealis, and caught a look of unguarded wonder and awe. He smiled, and followed her gaze as she turned to look at the upcoming doors to Santa’s workshop. She looked over at the Doctor and laughed, “This really is amazing for a ride for children.”

“See, kids rides can be fun. Maybe now you’ll come with me to Disneyland.”

“Not a chance.” she laughed and leaned into him, as they travelled through the rest of the workshop, and emerged into snow. Suddenly the train lurched, and began to climb into the air.

“Oh! I wasn’t expecting that.” The Doctor said, his grip around River’s arm tightening. “Look.” He pointed to her right and they passed Santa’s sleigh and reindeer travelling in the night.

xoxo

Climbing out of the train was no easy feat, and the Doctor hobbled past the gate, trying to wake up his leg. He turned back to the train to see River uncharacteristically tumble out of the cart.

He hurried over to her as quick as his numb leg would carry him, and bent down to help her up. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” She looked up at his shining eyes and smirked, “You can laugh.” And he did enjoy a laugh before pulling her into a hug.

“Oh, River, I’m sorry! I wish you could have seen that for yourself, it was priceless.”

“I’m glad it made you laugh. I’m going to have an bruise from that seat, I think.” She rubbed at her thigh with her hand.

“I’ll go rub it better for you if you like.”

“Later. I still have to finish shopping.”

“ _Ugh! River!_ ” he moaned and threw his head back.

“I’ll try and be as quick as I can, my love, I promise. And then afterwords you can rub my leg for me. Then maybe I’ll rub something of yours.” She shot a filthy smile over her shoulder at him, as she let herself out of the gated ride.

“You awful tease. Now shopping’s going to be just that much more unbearable.”


	6. Chapter Six

Two gin and tonics had gone down like water, and had been made very well by a handsome and possibly smitten bartender. River had happened upon this party by accident, and it was a good one! The space was an old horse barn that had been converted into a massive party hall. Fairy lights were strewn across the ceiling and down the walls, giving a warm glow to the room. There was a band who actually played good music, lots of hors d’oeuvres and desserts, and plenty of buzzing people to talk with and flirt with.

By a pot belly stove, there were puffy jackets for guests to borrow, as well as sleds, snowman making kits, and snow cone flavoring. There was a horse drawn sleigh that brought groups on a moonlit tour of the grounds.

River got chatting with a friendly couple who were taking a break from dancing to enjoy some eggnog. After talking for a while, River was thrilled to discover that they were the hosts of the party.

“Are you really? This is amazing; the party, the place. Do you love living here?” She felt like she was yelling over the band -or maybe she was yelling because she was starting to feel her drinks now that she was getting to the bottom of her third. They had hit her like a ton of bricks!

“Yes. We love it -gets a bit quiet in the winter, so we like having lots of people over to warm up the place.” The husband, Jeremy, said.

“We’re thinking of taking some wine and going for a soak in the hot tub in a bit. Could we persuade you to join us? And your significant other, if they’re here.” His wife, Mariah said warmly.

“That sounds wonderful. My husband isn’t here yet, but he’ll be arriving shortly, I hope.”

“Lovely! We look forward to being introduced to him. See you in a bit!”

Once they left, River reached into her purse and pulled out her vortex manipulator. Time to go find the Doctor. He would love this party!

xoxo

The familiar static zapping sound caused the Doctor to look up from his weekly cleaning of the console.

“Hello Sweetie.” the Doctor noticed her flushed skin, and the sparkle of her eyes.

“Hello River,” he let his eyes fall on her black wrap dress and glittered heels, “you look lovely.”

“Thank you. I’ve just come from a great party. Come with me!”

“Been drinking a bit, have you?” he asked as he caught the smell of alcohol, and heard her trying to form her words carefully.

“Maybe just a bit.” she sauntered closer to him, “Sweetie, you should come, I’ve met the hosts and they’ve invited us to go in their hot tub,” she stroked his arm, and moved boldly into his personal space, “there are tiny hot dogs in croissant rolls.”

“Music?”

“A band.”

“Sounds like fun.” She squeezed his bicep once before pressing herself against him, and placing light kisses along his jaw. “What were you drinking?”

“Gin and tonic. Two, or three.” She punctuated each sentence with a brush of her lips against his neck.

The Doctor grinned, “For all your accomplishments, River Song, you are still a cheap date.”

River hummed and pulled back to look at him, “To the party?”

“Sure.” He leaned forward to kiss her full lips briefly, and then moved to turn a knob on the console, “Where are we going?”

“I’ve got it.” she turned and flipped a lever on the console, before moving to turn a dial, and -to his irritation- to take off the breaks and put on the stabilizers.

“You can’t drive after three cocktails!”

“Oh, shut up, it’s fine. Who’s going to come and get me? The intergalactic police?”

The Doctor rolled his eyes and followed her path around the console to make sure they didn’t end up somewhere undesirable. Unsurprisingly, she flew the TARDIS perfectly to their destination.

He pushed open the doors, and pulled her along towards the lit barn. She stumbled in her heels in the snow, and clung to his hand for support. Finally back in the warmth of the barn, the Doctor surveyed the room. “This place is amazing! Look at the lights!” A waiter carrying a tray passed him, “Oh, and the little hot dogs! _And_ mini-burgers!” He turned back to River who was smiling at him, “How did you find this place?”

“I was bored and went to a bar -I overheard a couple talking about this party, and went to find it.”

“Crashed a Christmas party -I love it. Shall we go find that hot tub?”

xoxo

Marion and Jeremy were wonderful company, and enjoyed meeting the Doctor. After a while, they excused themselves to go finish playing host and hostess, but told the other couple to stay long as they liked.

River looked up at the ceiling of the glass gazebo and tucked herself in against the Doctor.

“We should make something like this on the TARDIS.” The Doctor said, hitting the button to make the bubbles start up again.

“I’d love that.” River said as she drained a glass of sparkling water, and let the Doctor take it from her hands and place it on the side of the tub.

“It really is amazing to see the stars from this little room. I know I’ve seen them from all sorts of places, but this is definitely up there with the prettiest views. The sky is so clear!” He squeezed her shoulder lightly, before kissing her deeply, “Thanks for inviting me to this. We’ll have to come again next year.”

She laughed, “Why wait a year? We could skip ahead and come back tomorrow if we like.”

“We could.” He pressed a kiss against her curls. “Christmas is too much fun to always wait a whole year for.”


	7. Chapter Seven

She’d known since she’d first caught sight of the delicate red garment that was going to be his Christmas present. She purchased it, and brought it back to Stormcage where she debated the best way to give it to him.

He picked her up on Christmas and surprised her with dinner on Stanipryga, a strange planet she’d never been to, but he assured her had wonderful tea and scones... or rather their planet equivalent of tea and scones.

“This place is brilliant! When the humans on Earth took to the stars when the planet started to become inhospitable, the most peaceful country found this planet. They mated with the natives, grew to learn and respect their culture, and offered their favorite Earth traditions from various cultures throughout their world. Tea and scones were comforting to so many humans, and now it’s taken to the universe. Isn’t that lovely?”

“It is. Thank you.” she said to the server as they set down the tea and pastries. “Oh, gosh, I love her hair.” River said as the young woman left. She had many human characteristics, but the exposed skin on her arm showed a faint flashes of purply/golden/teal chatoyancy, and her limbs were longer. Her hair, which River admired, was long and dirty blonde, but had natural blue highlights. “She’s so beautiful, I can’t stop starting a her.” River laughed and turned to the tray to select a scone.

“This planet had almost no diversity, you know. It wasn’t until humans arrived, and it changed the whole planet.” He selected his own scone, “The humans brought their favorite holidays, too, so they celebrate Christmas here. It’s a bit different, but they emphasize family, love, warmth, and goodwill to man. The native Staniprygite children also really took a liking to Father Christmas.”

River smiled and poured tea for the two of them, “Is that why there are tiny Santa's around this shop? I like that they’ve incorporated the look of the planet natives into this design, that’s quite nice.”

After tea they stumbled upon a general store, and went inside. They bought wine, cheese, hot cocoa, toast (“Ready-made toast, River!”), candy necklaces, and a small pod that you dropped on a surface and it played movies -they chose a remake of a remake of a remake of their favorite Christmas movie, and figured they’d love it, or throw the pod out of the doors of the TARDIS and into a black hole.

River tried and failed to get him to try and enjoy some wine, waving him off when he told her no matter how hard she tried he would _never_ enjoy sour grape juice. They shared the cheese on the pre-made toast and snuggled in on the couch to either enjoy or rip apart this remake.

“ _River?_ ” the Doctor quietly murmured in her ear. She realized she’d been nodding off. “I was going to ask what you thought of the movie, but if you’re falling asleep, I think I have my answer.”

“I hate to say it, sweetie, but this one makes the second remake look like gold.”

“Really? I find I’m actually liking this one. I like how they’ve not quite gotten the costumes for the era right.”

“It’s rubbish. I’m going to go change into something more comfortable, be back in a bit.”

xoxo

She wondered if he was growing impatient waiting for her, and if he’d started doing something else somewhere on the ship. River knew she was taking longer than ‘a bit’,you.” she said to the server as they set down the tea and pastries. “Oh, gosh, I love her hair.” River said as the young woman left. She had many human characteristics, but the exposed skin on her arm showed a faint flashes of purply/golden/teal chatoyancy, and her limbs were longer. Her hair, which River admired, was long and dirty blonde, but had natural blue highlights. “She’s so beautiful, I can’t stop starting a her.” River laughed and turned to the tray to select a scone.

“This planet had almost no diversity, you know. It wasn’t until humans arrived, and it changed the whole planet.” He selected his own scone, “The humans brought their favorite holidays, too, so they celebrate Christmas here. It’s a bit different, but they emphasize family, love, warmth, and goodwill to man. The native Staniprygite children also really took a liking to Father Christmas.”

River smiled and poured tea for the two of them, “Is that why there are tiny Santa's around this shop? I like that they’ve incorporated the look of the planet natives into this design, that’s quite nice.”

After tea they stumbled upon a general store, and went inside. They bought wine, cheese, hot cocoa, toast (“Ready-made toast, River!”), candy necklaces, and a small pod that you dropped on a surface and it played movies -they chose a remake of a remake of a remake of their favorite Christmas movie, and figured they’d love it, or throw the pod out of the doors of the TARDIS and into a black hole.

River tried and failed to get him to try and enjoy some wine, waving him off when he told her no matter how hard she tried he would  _never_ enjoy sour grape juice. They shared the cheese on the pre-made toast and snuggled in on the couch to either enjoy or rip apart this remake.

“ _River?_ ” the Doctor quietly murmured in her ear. She realized she’d been nodding off. “I was going to ask what you thought of the movie, but if you’re falling asleep, I think I have my answer.”

“I hate to say it, sweetie, but this one makes the second remake look like gold.”

“Really? I find I’m actually liking this one. I like how they’ve not quite gotten the costumes for the era right.”

“It’s rubbish. I’m going to go change into something more comfortable, be back in a bit.”

xoxo

She wondered if he was growing impatient waiting for her, and if he’d started doing something else somewhere on the ship. River knew she was taking longer than ‘a bit’, but she wanted to look perfect. She pulled back from the mirror and inspected her lipstick, declaring it perfect. With one final check she sauntered out of the bathroom in search of the Doctor.

Shockingly, he was still watching that disaster of a remake. River smiled to herself, and crossed the room to slip her arms around his shoulders from behind the sofa. He automatically lifted his hands to rest on her wrists, and said, “I know I’ve seen this loads of times, but I want to watch the end.”

“Are you sure? I thought maybe you’d like to do something else.”

“Like what?” he turned his head to look back at her and his jaw dropped, “What is that? What are you wearing?”

“Something Christmasy.” she said, letting her red satin robe slide halfway down her arms.

“That’s not Christmasy.” he let his eyes roam her body, encased in a short red satin chemise with black lace accenting around the top, and around the slit that went impossibly higher on her thigh.

“It’s red.” she said silkily.

He cleared his throat and tried hard to be polite and keep eye contact, rather than stare at her breasts. “Red,”  _oh, God, did his voice_ really  _just crack?!_ “does not necessarily make something Christmasy.”

“It doesn’t? That’s why I got it for you.” she shrugged and began to round the couch -she was wearing the red heels he loved so much.

“You got this for me?”

“Yes.” she purred and swung a long leg over his, and lowered herself to straddle his lap.

His hands moved easily to rest on her hips and stroke the soft silky material. “River, you look so beautiful,” he continued sliding his hands up her body, large palms moulding to every curve, and tangled his fingers in her hair, “that girl in the tea shop could never have anything on you.”

River closed her eyes and hummed in pleasure as he lightly massaged her scalp. She began to make quick work of his jacket and braces, and leaned forward to grab an end of his bow tie with her teeth, while unbuttoning several top buttons of his shirt. Finally she took his head in both her hands and kissed him fully. She kissed him till he was breathless and bunching the hem of her slip and snapped the suspender lightly against her leg. River pushed his head back and bit at his neck in retaliation before getting to her feet and yanking him up with her.

When she pulled away to look at his face he looked dazed in the best, most endearing, and hottest way. He tried to grab her back to him, but she danced just out of his reach.

“You bad, bad girl, get over here.” he growled, and she merely slipped one strap of her chemise down to expose her shoulder in response. “ _River._ ” he breathed. How she loved when he said her name like that.

“One more thing.” The breathiness of her voice surprised her a bit, and bent down to pull the rest of his present out of her robe pocket.

“Handcuffs?” he glanced down at the sparkling pair dangling from her finger, “Diamond handcuffs?”

“Don’t be silly, they're just rhinestones. I can’t trust you with an expensive pair after what happened to the last ones.”

“I cannot be held accountable for my actions at that time, and you know that.”

She reached out to take a brace strap that was dangling down his leg, and pulled him along with her. “Just don’t break these tonight, sweetie. I’d hate to see you ruin a new toy so soon after getting it.” She threw him a dazzling smile over her shoulder, and he could wait no longer. He picked her up and River let out a startled gasp as he threw her over his shoulder and slapped her thigh. “ _Oh!_ ” She didn’t know he could do that! “Looks like I might end up enjoying your present more than you.” she laughed as he carried her rather fast towards whatever bedroom the pair could stumble upon first.

xoxo

“When my parents ask what I got for you this year, just say a scarf, okay?” she panted as she tossed the christened handcuffs to the floor.

“Deal.” ngly, he was still watching that disaster of a remake. River smiled to herself, and crossed the room to slip her arms around his shoulders from behind the sofa. He automatically lifted his hands to rest on her wrists, and said, “I know I’ve seen this loads of times, but I want to watch the end.”

“Are you sure? I thought maybe you’d like to do something else.”

“Like what?” he turned his head to look back at her and his jaw dropped, “What is that? What are you wearing?”

“Something Christmasy.” she said, letting her red satin robe slide halfway down her arms.

“That’s not Christmasy.” he let his eyes roam her body, encased in a short red satin chemise with black lace accenting around the top, and around the slit that went impossibly higher on her thigh.

“It’s red.” she said silkily.

He cleared his throat and tried hard to be polite and keep eye contact, rather than stare at her breasts. “Red,” _oh, God, did his voice_ really _just crack?!_ “does not necessarily make something Christmasy.”

“It doesn’t? That’s why I got it for you.” she shrugged and began to round the couch -she was wearing the red heels he loved so much.

“You got this for me?”

“Yes.” she purred and swung a long leg over his, and lowered herself to straddle his lap.

His hands moved easily to rest on her hips and stroke the soft silky material. “River, you look so beautiful,” he continued sliding his hands up her body, large palms moulding to every curve, and tangled his fingers in her hair, “that girl in the tea shop could never have anything on you.”

River closed her eyes and hummed in pleasure as he lightly massaged her scalp. She began to make quick work of his jacket and braces, and leaned forward to grab an end of his bow tie with her teeth, while unbuttoning several top buttons of his shirt. Finally she took his head in both her hands and kissed him fully. She kissed him till he was breathless and bunching the hem of her slip and snapped the suspender lightly against her leg. River pushed his head back and bit at his neck in retaliation before getting to her feet and yanking him up with her.

When she pulled away to look at his face he looked dazed in the best, most endearing, and hottest way. He tried to grab her back to him, but she danced just out of his reach.

“You bad, bad girl, get over here.” he growled, and she merely slipped one strap of her chemise down to expose her shoulder in response. “ _River._ ” he breathed. How she loved when he said her name like that.

“One more thing.” The breathiness of her voice surprised her a bit, and bent down to pull the rest of his present out of her robe pocket.

“Handcuffs?” he glanced down at the sparkling pair dangling from her finger, “Diamond handcuffs?”

“Don’t be silly, they're just rhinestones. I can’t trust you with an expensive pair after what happened to the last ones.”

“I cannot be held accountable for my actions at that time, and you know that.”

She reached out to take a brace strap that was dangling down his leg, and pulled him along with her. “Just don’t break these tonight, sweetie. I’d hate to see you ruin a new toy so soon after getting it.” She threw him a dazzling smile over her shoulder, and he could wait no longer. He picked her up and River let out a startled gasp as he threw her over his shoulder and slapped her thigh. “ _Oh!_ ” She didn’t know he could do that! “Looks like I might end up enjoying your present more than you.” she laughed as he carried her rather fast towards whatever bedroom the pair could stumble upon first.

xoxo

“When my parents ask what I got for you this year, just say a scarf, okay?” she panted as she tossed the christened handcuffs to the floor.

“Deal.”


	8. Chapter Eight

“I wish we’d been able to go with Amy and Rory to pick out the tree instead of having to look through this mess.” he called down to River as he searched through the loft for boxes of Christmas decorations. “Get ready to grab this box.”

He carefully passed a full box of tree trimmings down, and once she set that down on the floor, the Doctor passed another box full of house decorations. “Is that all?”

“One more.” He carefully navigated himself and the box down from the loft and set that one down as well, “Much less stuff than I thought they’d have.”

“Same.”

“Let’s sort through these and see what we’ve got.”

xoxo

By the time Amy and Rory got back, the Doctor and River were in the middle of untangling a massive wad of string lights in the kitchen. The pair didn’t go into the living room until Amy trotted in and grabbed two glasses from a cabinet.

“Look at this gorgeous tree we got!” Amy said as she filled both glasses with water. “We saw it and fell in love immediately, it’s perfect.” She ushered them into the living room, the Doctor still fussing with the lights as he wentm “What do you think?”

“Brilliant, Pond. If I can ever get this mess untangled, it will look even better.”

Rory stepped back from the tree and accepted his glass from Amy. He lifted the lid off the plastic bin and his face fell. “Amy, I don’t think we packed these away well last year. They’re all broken.”

“Oh no,” she peered in, and picked up brightly colored shards of aluminium and glass ornaments, “good thing we didn’t spend too much money on them.” She glanced down at her watch and then back at the trio, “Alright, then, family outing! Let’s go find some proper decorations.”

xoxo

River and Amy dipped paintbrushes into small pots of paint, creating tiny works of art on what were once plain glass balls. Rory and the Doctor were presently in the next room stringing the lights on the tree, and in the windows of the living room. Amy glanced up at River, lip caught between her teeth in concentration as she put delicate detailing on her ornament.

“You haven’t told your mum what you want for Christmas yet, River.”

“I don’t really need anything.”

“It’s not asking what you need, that’s boring. What do you _want_? What would make you happy?”

River considered this for a few moments, and set her now finished piece of art on the kitchen table to dry. She shrugged after wracking her brain, and had been unable to come to any realistic conclusion, “Honestly, I don’t know.” she picked up another ornament -green this time- and dipped a clean brush into white paint, and began making a lace pattern, “It might be nice to go somewhere with you and with Rory. Somewhere...”

“Simple?” Amy offered.

“Yeah, somewhere simple,” River smiled, “somewhere -I hate to say it- _normal_. Where we’d have to get on a plane.”

Amy laughed, “Where do you want to go?”

“Oh, gosh... er, Switzerland?”

“Gstaad?”

“Austria?”

“Oh! We can go on _The Sound of Music_ tour in Salzburg!” Amy’s eyes lit up, and then she had the decency to blush, “I don’t know what it is about that movie, but I quite like it.”

“I do too, actually.”

“I bet Rory would like it too. And there would be lots of chocolate.”

“And schnapps.”

“Goats!”

Both women laughed at the idea, and fell into a comfortable silence as they continued their painting project.

“Let’s do it. It would be nice to spend some time with you.”

“I’d really love that, mother.”

Amy smiled at the address, and reached across the table to cover River’s hand with hers and squeeze it lightly, “Me too, Melody.”

Rory and the Doctor broke the moment between mother and daughter as they entered the kitchen, and looked down at the table quickly filling with newly decorated ornaments.

“How’s it going?” The Doctor sat down next to Amy and looked at her handiwork, “Ah, look at the little TARDIS in the snow! Oh, and this is cute!” He picked up one where she’d painted a winter scene with a snowman. Can I paint one?”

“Course. Just be careful not to smear it when you put it down to dry.”

“River, these are amazing.” Rory said as he looked at her collection of artwork.

The Doctor looked up from his own painting, which was clearly shaping up to be a burgundy bow tie, and glanced up at the nuzzling mother and baby polar bear that Rory was holding up for him to admire. “River... what? I didn’t know you could do that.”

“Takes after her mum.” Rory said as he carefully replaced the ornament and gently tugged one of River’s curls before sitting next to her to look at the rest of her mini-masterpieces.

xoxo

The Doctor had complained about the drying time for the painted ornaments, and had promised take away dinner on him if they could hop forward in time to decorate the tree. The Ponds had agreed, and they emerged back in their living room later that night.

The four sat back on the couch to admired the festive view some time after.

“We should try to do this every year; make some new things to hang on the tree.” the Doctor said, wrapping an arm around River’s shoulder, and glancing over at Amy and Rory.

“That would be fantastic, Doctor. Just not next Christmas, though -we’re taking a Pond family vacation to Switzerland!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the late update, and the hurried chapters. This is such a busy time of year hoh gosh! Merry merry! x


	9. Chapter Nine

“What is that?” River looked up from her book and knitted her brows together.

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like a nutcracker, but why do you have one?”

“To crack nuts, of course. I like nuts.”

“You don’t.”

“If I cracked them in this small wooden soldier’s mouth I would!” He pulled a hazelnut out of his pocket, and gave it a long look, “Or I could open it, and give it to you.”

“No thanks.”

“You’re no fun.” He crossed the room and sat down next to her on the sofa and gently took the book from her hands, and placed the nutcracker in its stead.

River smiled, “Thank you, Uncle Drosselmeyer? Really, sweetie, why do you have this?”

“It was given to me when I bought tickets to the Royal Ballet. We are going to see _The Nutcracker_.” His hearts swelled at the small smile that played on her lips as she looked down at the nutcracker.

xoxo

She’d never have guessed so many years ago that he would pick out so many dresses for her to wear. It was impressive that a man who considered tweeds and bow ties to be cool and fashionable, could manage to pick out such gorgeous things for her to wear. She turned to admire the back of the floor length emerald green chiffon dress, and ran her hands over the beaded belt at the waist.

She met him in the console room, and felt color rush to her cheeks as he looked up and down her body admiringly.

“Beautiful. I love you in a green dress.”

River smiled, and slipped her arms around his waist, “Thank you. It’s perfect.” she kissed him and reached out to straighten his bow tie, “Nice suit.”

“This old thing? It gets the job done. Dinner before or after the ballet?" He asked, fist wrapped around one of the levers on the console.

“Before, I think.”

“You got it.” He flipped the lever, and the ship lurched, sending them to a fancy restaurant in the theatre district before a lovely night at the ballet.

xoxo

“That was fantastic.” River happily sauntered into the TARDIS, slipping off her shoes and padding barefooted up to the center of the ship, “thank you for taking me,” she dropped them to the floor, and leaned back against the console, “I’ve always wanted to see _The Nutcracker,_ you know.”

“You told me a long time ago.” he said as he hung up their coats on a coat rack.

“I did?”

“When you were younger you mentioned it in passing; you said ‘I’d love to see it some Christmas’. I thought this would be a good time.”

River smiled at him as he made his way up to her, but brought a hand to her mouth to stifle as gasp when he tripped over her shoes. “Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry.”

He steadied himself and bent down to pick up her shoes, “It’s alright,” he hooked the heels over the handle of the scanner, “no harm, no foul, no bruise.” He snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her into him, took her other hand in his, and slowly began to sway them, “I’ll never be in a ballet, myself, but I can coordinate these limbs enough to dance with you.”

River tucked herself in against him, and felt the Doctor pull his hand from her waist to grab his screwdriver from his pocket. The room was filled with _The Waltz of the Flowers_ and his warm hand returned to her waist. He guided her around the room and ended their ‘waltz’ by kissing her lovingly and soundly.


	10. Chapter Ten

“I think it’s time to start getting ready for bed.”

“Five more minutes, Mummy? Pleeease?”

“If you brush your teeth and put on your pajamas, you can stay up five more minutes.”

“Five minutes after all of that? Or five minutes to do them?”

A laugh came from the Granddad wearing an elf hat and helping to tape a paper chain to the ledge of the fireplace, “Clever, clever girl! That was a very good question.”

“Five minutes after.” the red head stated, flopping down on an overstuffed chair next to her parents who were sitting on the couch.

“Okay!” The small girl tore from the room and raced upstairs to her room.

“Has Melody ever been this excited for Christmas, Amy?” Tabetha Pond asked.

“No. Every day since the beginning of this December she’s been looking forward to it. I’m worried she’ll explode from excitement in the night.” Amy laughed and leaned forward to pick up her tea and take a long sip, “It’s exhausting, but it’s contagious; Rory and I are living vicariously through her.”

“The joy of kids and the holidays. You were the very same... your mother and I lost years of sleeping in on Christmas Day.” Augustus Pond said with a chuckle.

“Rory and I told her she has to stay in the room until the sun comes up. I think we’re going to put her stocking on her door so she can keep herself entertained for a while.”

“Does she like that staying in your old room from when you were a girl?” Tabetha asked as she leaned forward to pour herself another cup of tea.

“I think so. I think it’s funny to her thinking of me as a kid in this house.” The four adults looked up at the ceiling when they heard the pounding of little feet as Melody ran from her room and down the hall. “No running down the stairs.” Amy called loudly, and the running came to an abrupt halt. Moments later the six-year-old came around the corner to the living room.

“Look at you in your snowflake pajamas! Did you get those special for Christmas?” Brian Williams asked when he finished taking up the last of the paper chains he and Melody had worked on together.

“Mummy and Daddy gave them to me today!” she twirled, and the skirt of the nightgown flared out. She stuck a little foot out, “There are slippers, too!”

“Very important to keep the feet warm on these cold nights.” he tapped her nose affectionately.

“Come here, sweetie.” Amy opened her arms, and Melody ran over to climb up into her mothers lap, and snuggle into her embrace, “You’ve been such a good girl helping Mummy and Gran in the kitchen today. Did you have fun decorating the cookies?”

“Yes. Papa said that they were so pretty he had to eat three.”

Amy glanced up at her father and shot him a look of mock reprimand, “Three cookies, Dad?”

“She made them look far too appetizing!”

A knock on the door made all the adults glance knowingly at each other, and Melody perked up at the noise.

“Who that could be at a time like this?” Brian pondered, and left the room to answer the door, “Oh my word! Why, you all won’t believe who’s decided to stop by! Come on in from the cold.” Brian reentered the room and looked to Melody, “Look who’s come to see us.”

“Santa?” Melody gasped, and turned to look up at Amy, “Santa’s here?!”

“Can you believe that? Do you want to give him the cookies you made specially for him?” Amy reached out to take the small plate that had been placed on a small end table, and handed it to her daughter.

“Merry Christmas, everyone! Sorry I’ve come so early, but I wanted to see someone special before she went to sleep.”

“That’s very nice of you, Santa.” Amy said, and looked down at Melody. She gave the child, who had been so excited about the idea of seeing Santa ride by in his sleigh but now seemed to be rooted to the spot by apprehension, an encouraging nudge.

Melody carefully climbed off her mother’s lap and crossed the room to Santa as he crouched down to get closer to her eye level. “Hello Melody.” Melody wordlessly held out the plate for the man before her to see. “Did you make that yourself?”

“Mummy and Gran made them. I frosted them.” she said quietly.

“They’re beautiful. Almost too pretty to eat.”

“You have to take one, it’s the rule.”

“Is it?” Santa chuckled, and Melody’s little body suddenly looked much more relaxed as she looked into his familiar eyes.

“Yes it is! You go and eat cookies and drink milk when you visit peoples houses. My Daddy told me that. Mummy, where is Daddy?” Melody looked over her shoulder at Amy.

“Daddy went to the store to get eggs to make breakfast tomorrow.”

“He’s missing Santa!”

Amy looked at ‘Santa’ as he gave her a wink behind Melody’s back, “Tell you what, I’ll come back later and visit your Dad before he goes to bed. In the meanwhile, how about I give you something special for you to open in the morning?”

Melody’s eyes lit up and she nodded, “I’d like that a lot.”

Santa reached into his pack, and pulled out a brightly wrapped parcel. “Merry Christmas, Melody.”

Melody placed the plate of cookies on the floor before carefully taking the parcel and then flinging her arms round Santa’s neck and giving him a hug, “Thank you, Santa. Merry Christmas."

xoxo

Melody knew she was supposed to be in bed, but she couldn’t resist sneaking down the stairs and taking one last look at the Christmas tree before going to sleep. She peeked round the corner into the living room and covered her mouth to keep from giggling.

Amy was taking a small box from Santa, and laughed before saying something Melody couldn’t hear. She took hold of his fluffy white collar and pulled him in for a kiss. _Mummy is kissing Santa Clause!_ Melody thought before tiptoeing up the stairs to bed, and tucking herself into bed.

...

Tiny Melody Pond smiled in her sleep and rolled over to snuggle further under the covers. She would not wake up to falling snow, or to homemade breakfast with the Ponds. In the morning, reality would be different than her dream, but for now she was content and happy.


	11. Chapter Eleven

“Hand me another,” the Doctor said holding out a gloved hand, “and one more... _t_ _here_. That’s perfect!” He stepped back to admire his snowman, and looked to River for approval. “Best one yet, I’d say. Look at that fresh carrot nose. What’s your opinion?”

She looked at him fondly, “You’re a child.”

“Your opinion on the snowman, not me.”

“It looks fine, sweetie.”

“On a scale of one to ten how great is this snowman?”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, of course!”

She shrugged and let out huff, “I dunno. Eleven?”

“Not between one and ten, but I’ll let it go because we still need find the perfect spot for an igloo.” He grabbed her hand and they walked a ways, the Doctor dismissing every location suggestion she made as they went.

“I’m not seeing much difference between this spot, or one further away. Everything is covered in snow! It all looks the same!”

“That’s where you’re wrong. You’ll see.” He stopped suddenly, sniffing the air. River walked into him, and stepped back, watching as he stuck out his tongue to catch a falling snowflake, “Here we are!” He turned to River, “Let’s start building!”

xoxo

River was setting to work on one wall of the igloo when a snowball whizzed past her. “Sweetie, what have I told you about trying to throw things?”

“It’s snow, River. I can make a snowball as big as I like. I can make it big as my target’s head, sans wild hair.”

“It doesn’t matter how big your object is in proportion to the target if you just have terrible aim. There’s no shame in having bad aim.”

“I know.” He came over to her, “There’s other ways to get you.” And with that, he quickly stuffed a handful of snow down the back of her jacket. She shrieked, and desperately attempted to fish the cold intrusion out of her jacket away from her skin.

The Doctor found himself being thrown backwards through the wall of the igloo for his crime. River climbed on top of him, and pinned his arms down by his head.

“How dare you?”

“You pushed me though the igloo wall!”

“Serves you right for putting snow down my back.”

“The igloo wall! Now we’ve got to start over.”

“Oh, shut up.” She silenced him with her lips, and they lost interest in the igloo for a while.

xoxo

“ _Allmoost..._ finished!” The Doctor patted the last bit of the entry way into place, and brushed his hands together to shake the snow off his gloves, “Now all we need is some homey touches. Would you mind going back to the TARDIS and getting some blankets and snacks?”

“ _All_ the way back to the TARDIS?”

“Well, yeah, snacks are important. You don’t have to rush, you can park her right over there.” he pointed to a nearby pine tree.

“How about I park her on top of this igloo?”

“Get some candles while you’re there, too. It’ll be getting dark soon.” Either he’d chosen to ignore her, or hadn’t been listening at all. She guessed the latter.

River rolled her eyes and got to her feet, “Fine, I’ll go get the TARDIS, but I’m not going to rush.”

“That’s fine, dear. I’ll make sure the inside looks nice.”

xoxo

She landed a few yards from the igloo, and emerged with an armful of blankets and a lantern. The Doctor crawled out of the small snow house and held out his arms to take the blankets from her.

“Hold on just a moment; let me put the blankets down to make it nice, then you can come in.” He disappeared for a moment and then called out, “Alright, River!”

She was surprised at how much warmer it was inside. And by how long the tunnel felt -it hadn’t been this long on the outside, had it? She emerged into the room and couldn’t help raising her eyebrows in surprise. The Doctor had laid a few of the blankets out like rugs, and had placed the lantern in the middle. She looked over at the walls where the Doctor had carved out spaces for small candles, and the light danced through the snowy room, giving it an inviting and comfy glow.

“At the risk of sounding cliche, this igloo is bigger on the inside, isn’t it?”

“It is! We built it on a small pocket dimension. Not a big enough one to cause any problems, but one where you can build an igloo that’s more than spacious enough for two to enjoy, without having to put in hours of labor building the outside. Cool, huh?”

“It is,” she scooted next to him on the blanket, and pulled one up around her, “it _is_ cool.”

He smiled and threw an arm around her shoulder, before laying the two of them back on the ground. “It’s a nice way to spend an afternoon; a cozy igloo, some snacks, some candles, and my beautiful wife.”

“Oh no, I forgot to bring snacks.”

“Well, then this whole afternoon is ruined, isn’t it?”


	12. Chapter Twelve

_Almost out of flour_ she made a mental note as she took a scoopful from the container on the kitchen counter, and spread it across her workspace. She was impressed by how fast this assembly line of Christmas cookies was going, and wanted to be ready to put the new batch of Gingerbread men in the oven as soon as the current batch was done.

The cooled dough rolled out smoothly under the weight of the rolling pin, and spreading evenly across the counter. She chose a cookie cutter in the shape of a tree, and carefully peeled each one from the counter and lay it on the cooking sheet.

Who’d have thought River would be in a pair of warm woolen socks, a glass of wine at arms length, baking heaps of cookies, and settled in for the night at seven o'clock on Christmas Eve? She laughed at herself as she moved to the oven to swap out the cookies.

She picked up a rack of already cooled cookies and began to ice them. She was just starting to make buttons down one cookie’s front when she heard a key slide into the lock of her front door. She’d been wondering if the Doctor was going to turn up. Unwilling to leave this cookie mid-frost, she determinedly outlined a pair of trousers, and braces, before finishing with a bow tie at the throat. She figured this first one could go to her husband.

“Sorry about the mess, sweetie. You know I’ve been so concentrated on these silly cookies, I didn’t even hear the TARDIS-” her thought was cut short as she looked over her shoulder at the man in her kitchen doorway. She placed the icing pipe down, and turned her body to look at him properly.

“Hi honey, I’m home.” he offered after a moments silence from River. “I changed my hair a bit, what do you think?” 

“It’s... different.” She wanted to move closer to him, but seemed to be rooted to the spot. The Doctor must’ve noticed, because he took a few slow steps towards her. “When did this happen for you?”

“Just a while ago. I haven’t even changed my clothes yet, I'm still trying to get coordinated again, really.” He ran a hand through his new hair, and pulled a face when at the length of his new hair, “That’s going to take some getting used to.” he said to himself.

“Are you alright? Where’s Clara?”

“I took her home. I’m afraid this wasn’t the best Christmas I’ve spent with her; wasn’t the worst, either.”

“Your voice is so different. I suppose Scottish accents are cool, are they?”

“I knew a woman -a mad, fiery, ginger- and she had a Scottish accent, and I loved her very much.”

River smiled, and moved closer to him, slipping her hands inside his jacket to rest on his waistcoat. “Oh, God, you’re so skinny.” she pinched the extra fabric by his waist. His last body (one she had become so terribly fond of) hadn’t had much meat on his bones, but this one was even slimmer. And a bit taller -just enough that she was aware of her neck being held at a different angle. He brought his hands up to rest on her hips; those were still big and warm. “Was I there with you?”

“Spoilers.” He pulled her closer to him, bringing his arms around her waist more securely. 

River slipped a hand up his chest and brought it to his face, cupping his cheek. “This is a very distinguished look, sweetie.”

“You said I insisted on looking like I was twelve, and I wanted to show you you were wrong.”

“I hope this regeneration wasn’t to prove a point.” she smiled, feeling a bit shy under his new and rather intense gaze.

“No. But I was thinking about what you said while it was happening. Roughly how much older do I look?”

“You’ll have to stop making jokes about robbing the cradle.”

“So... distinguished... do you mean grey?”

“A bit,” she brought her hand up to run through his new hair, “Well, all.”

“ _All grey?_ Aw, shit. I was hoping for a touch of salt and pepper, not Grandfather Bloody Time.”

River smirked, “Bit of a mouth, too, Grandpa.”

“Oh, alright, maybe let’s not call me _that._ ” the Doctor squeezed her sides, and she smiled and nuzzled against his neck, placing a kiss on his skin.

“I’ve got to call you something after all the Mrs. Robinson jokes.”

“I guess I do deserve it.” He gently brought his hand up to her chin, tilting her head up, and leaning down to kiss her.

He felt, tasted, and kissed... new! Everything felt and different, but somehow the same. River could still sense the fresh energy coursing through him, and it sent a thrill down her spine. They pulled away a moment later, and the Doctor brushed a tender thumb over her cheek. “First kiss this body kisses.”

“The first, and only?” she smirked.

“I’m irresistible, dear. Look at this old silver fox, I’ll be batting them off.” He chuckled, “I’ve got to give my wife the honor of breaking this new body in before I start kissing other ladies.” he joked, and River batted at his chest teasingly before hauling him in for another kiss.

“Merry Christmas, my love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you've enjoyed, even though they a bit rushed towards the end. A very merry Christmas to you! <3


End file.
